Brazilian Portuguese Childhood Autism Spectrum Test: an investigation of the factor structure of autistic traits in school-aged children

Objective: There is limited evidence about the cross-cultural validity of autistic symptoms in school-aged children in Brazil. We used data from a large school survey to evaluate the factor structure of autism symptoms in community-dwelling children and adolescents. Methods: We translated the Childhood Autism Spectrum Test to Brazilian Portuguese and performed factor analyses to investigate the factor structure of parent-reported autistic symptoms in a large sample (n=8,571) of children/adolescents from a school survey in the metropolitan area of São Paulo. Results: Autistic symptoms were best conceptualized under a correlated-factors model with two factors: one predominantly characterized by social-communication symptoms and the other by symptoms of inflexible/restricted language, behaviors, and interests. Conclusions: These findings provide evidence that the structure of autistic symptoms in Brazil is similar to that described in other countries, indicating the cross-cultural validity of autism in Brazil.

Brazilian Portuguese Childhood Autism Spectrum Test: an investigation of the factor structure of autistic traits in school-aged children from Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: There is limited evidence about the cross-cultural validity of autistic symptoms in school-aged children in Brazil. We used data from a large school survey to evaluate the factor structure of autism symptoms in community-dwelling children and adolescents. METHODS: We translated the Childhood Autism Spectrum Test to Brazilian Portuguese and performed factor analyses to investigate the factor structure of parent-reported autistic symptoms in a large sample (n=8,571) of children/adolescents from a school survey in the metropolitan area of São Paulo. RESULTS: Autistic symptoms were best conceptualized under a correlated-factors model with two factors: one predominantly characterized by social-communication symptoms and the other by symptoms of inflexible/restricted language, behaviors, and interests. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide evidence that the structure of autistic symptoms in Brazil is similar to that described in other countries, indicating the cross-cultural validity of autism in Brazil.

ADHD and autism symptoms in youth: a network analysis.

BACKGROUND: Previous research investigating the overlap between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (henceforth, autism) symptoms in population samples have relied on latent variable modeling in which averaged scores representing dimensions were derived from observed symptoms. There are no studies evaluating how ADHD and autism symptoms interact at the level of individual symptom items. METHODS: We aimed to address this gap by performing a network analysis on data from a school survey of children aged 6-17 years old (N = 7,405). ADHD and autism symptoms were measured via parent-report on the Swanson, Nolan, Pelham-IV questionnaire and the Childhood Autism Spectrum test, respectively. RESULTS: A relatively low interconnectivity between ADHD and autism symptoms was found with only 10.06% of possible connections (edges) between one ADHD and one autism symptoms different than zero. Associations between ADHD and autism symptoms were significantly weaker than those between two symptoms pertaining to the same construct. Select ADHD symptoms, particularly those presenting in social contexts (e.g. 'talks excessively', 'does not wait turn'), showed moderate-to-strong associations with autism symptoms, but some were considered redundant to autism symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings indicate that individual ADHD and autism symptoms are largely segregated in accordance with diagnostic boundaries corresponding to these conditions in children and adolescents from the community. These findings could improve our clinical conceptualization of ADHD and autism and guide advancements in diagnosis and treatment.

Autism screening and conditional cash transfers in Chile: Using the Quantitative Checklist (Q-CHAT) for early autism detection in a low resource setting.

LAY ABSTRACT: Getting a diagnosis of autism can take long, because autism is different across people, but also because it depends on the way it gets diagnosed. This is especially important in poorer countries or in the case of poor people living in wealthier countries that have significant groups of disadvantaged communities. We adapted a 10-item version of the Q-CHAT-25 questionnaire for use in routine health check-ups programme in Chile and recruited 287 participants under the age of three divided into three groups: Controls (125), Developmental Delay (149) and Autism Spectrum Condition (13). Our results show that a short questionnaire for autism screening can be successfully applied in a health-check programme in poor resource settings. Our results show that our questionnaire had good overall performance, not different to its longer version, the Q-CHAT-25. Our questionnaire was autism specific, with good sensitivity and reliability, and is suitable to be used in a screening setting. This study provides evidence that the implementation of Autism Spectrum Condition screening programmes using the Q-CHAT-10 provides value for money and improves diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Condition in those participating in routine health check-up programmes in developing countries or poor areas of wealthy countries.